The use of coated textile composites or laminates of textiles and liquid protective barrier membrane layers to create liquidproof protective apparel is well known in the industry. The most common of these applications is waterproof breathable apparel. Typical examples are laminate materials sold by W. L. Gore and Associates, Inc. under the registered trade name GORE-TEX, which contain a waterproof breathable film laminated, or bonded, to one or more textile layers. These laminates are fabricated into apparel and sold as GORE-TEX® garments and the like.
In the particularly demanding arenas of fire and safety service, and even chemical protective applications, the need for textiles which can withstand these more rigorous environments introduces challenges in forming laminated structures that retain liquidproofness even after flexing and abrasion during use. For example, textiles with enhanced fire resistance such as fiberglass, aramids, and the like, tend to be higher in weight and lower in flexibility. Furthermore, the composition of the textiles themselves can introduce additional challenges in bonding, or lamination, to create a durable bond between the barrier layer and the textile material. In addition, fiberglass textiles tend to be less flexible and subject to breaking during flexing, whereby the broken fibers can penetrate the barrier layer and compromise the liquidproofness of the laminates and resulting articles.
Textiles containing woven and non-woven glass fibers have in the past been bonded to PTFE and other polymeric materials to provide improved water resistance, UV stability, strength, etc., in applications such as roofing materials and other structural applications where the resulting material is not subject to significant flexing in use and durable liquidproofness is not as critical as in applications where human life can be put at risk in the event of material failure. For example, JP 61027245, in the name of Japan Gore-Tex, Inc., describes a continuously porous PTFE film laminated on a fabric woven with threads of glass fiber. Other similar references exist to such structural materials.
In the field of fire and safety service, fiberglass containing fabrics have not found widespread use because of the limitations of laminates comprising these fabrics to maintain barrier properties after flexing. Most textiles used in this application are aramids which have weight, manufacturing, cost, and lamination disadvantages.
Accordingly, a need has existed for lightweight, strong, flexible and durably liquidproof laminates including a barrier layer which can be readily formed into liquidproof articles to meet a wide range of demanding environmental conditions.